.

If none his guilty hand employ
To build again a second Troy,
If none the raih design pursue,
Nor tempt the vengeance of the gods anew.

A curse there cleaves to the devoted place,
That shall the new foundations rase;
Greece shall in mutual leagues conspire
To storm the rising town with fire,
And at their armies head myself will show
What Juno, urg'd to all her rage, can do.

Thrice should Apollo's self the city raise
And line it round with walls of brass,
Thrice should my favourite Greeks his works confound,
And hew the shining fabric to the ground:
Thrice should her captive dames to Greece return,
And their dead fons and laughter'd husbands mourn.

But hold, my Muse, forbear thy towering flight, Nor bring the secrets of the gods to light: In vain would thy presumptuous verse Th’immortal rhetoric rehearse The inighty strains, in lyric numbers bound, Forget their majesty, and lose their found.

THÉ тн Е

V VE S TA'L

FROM

OVID DE FASTIS, LIB. III. EL. I.

“ Blanda quies victis furtim subrepit ocellis, &c."

A

S the fair Veftal to the fountain came,

(Let none be startled at a Vestal's name :) Tir’d with the walk, she laid her down to rest, And to the winds expos’d her glowing breast, To take the freshness of the morning-air, And gather'd in a knot her flowing hair; While thus the rested, on her arm reclin’d, The hoary willows waving with the wind, And feather'd choirs that warbled in the shade, And purling streams that through the meadow stray'd,. In drowsy murmurs lull’d the gentle maid. The God of War beheld the virgin lie, The God beheld her with a lover's eye; And, by fo tempting an occasion press’d, The beauteous maid, whom he beheld, possess’d: Conceiving as the slept, her fruitful womb Swell'd with the Founder of immortal Rome,

}

OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.

BOOK

II.

THE STORY OF PHAETON.

TH

HE fun's bright palace, on high columns rais’d,

With burnish'd gold and flaming jewels blaz’d; The folding gates diffus'd a silver light, And with a milder gleam refresh'd the fight; of polith'd ivory was the covering wrought : The matter vied not with the sculptor's thought, For in the portal was display'd on high (The work of Vulcan) a fictitious sky; A waving sea th' inferior earth embrac’d, And Gods and Goddesfts the waters grac'd. Ægeon here a mighty whale beftrode; Triton, and Proteus (the deceiving God), With Doris here were cary'd, and all her train, Some loosely swimming in the figur'd main, While some on rocks their drooping hair divide, And some on fifhes through the waters glide : Though various features did the fifters grace, A fifter's likeness was in every

face. On earth a different landskip courts the eyes, Men, towns, and bearts, in distant prospects rise, And nymphs,and streams,and woods,and rural deities. O'er all, the heaven's refulgent image thines ; On either gate were fix engraven signs.

Here

Here Phaeton, still gaining on th' ascent,
To his sufpected father's palace went;
Till pressing forward through the bright abode,
He saw at distance the illustrious God :
He faw at distance, or the dazzling light
Had flash'd too strongly on his aking fight.

The God sits high, exalted on a throne
Of blazing gems, with purple garments on;
The hours in order rang’d on either hand,
And days, and months, and years, and ages, stand.
Here spring appears with flowery chaplets bound;
Here summer in her wheaten garland crown'd;
Here autumn the rich troden grapes besmear;
And hoary winter shivers in the rear.

Phæbus beheld the youth from off his throne ; That eye, which looks on all, was fix'd on one. He saw the boy's confusion in his face, Surpriz’d at all the wonders of the place; And cries aloud, “ What wants my son ? For know “ My son thou art, and I must call thee fo.”

“ Light of the world," the trembling youth replies, “ Illustrious parent! since you

don't despise " The parent's name, fome certain token give, “ That I may Clymenè’s proud boast believe, “ Nor longer under false reproaches grieve.”

The tender Sire was touch'd with what he said, And Aung the blaze of glories from his head, And bid the youth advance : “ My son (said he) “ Come to thy father's arms ! for Clymenè “ Has told thee true; a parent's name I own, 6 And deem thee worthy to be call'd my son.

לל

}

" As

“ As a sure proof, make some request, and I,
“ Whate'er it be, with that request comply ;
" By Styx I swear, whose waves are hid in night,
* And roll impervious to my piercing fight."

The youth, transported, alks without delay,
To guide the Sun's bright chariot for a day.

The God repented of the oath he took,
For anguish thrice his radiant head he shook :
66 My son (says he) some other proof require ;
“ Raih was my promise, rash is thy desire.
“ I'd fain deny this with which thou hast made,
“ Or, what I can't deny, would fain diffuade.
“ Too vast and hazardous the task appears,
66 Nor suited to thy strength, nor to thy years.
“ Thy lot is mortal, but thy wishes fily

Beyond the province of mortality :
« There is not one of all the Gods that dares
“ (However skill'd in other great affairs)
« To mount the burning axle-tree, but I;
“ Not Jove himself, the ruler of the sky,
6 That hurls the three-fork'd thunder from above,
66 Dares try his strength; yet who so strong as Jove?
“ The steeds climb up the first ascent with pain ;
“ And when the middle firmament they gain,
66 If downwards from the heavens my head I bow,
“ And see the earth and ocean hang below,
“ Ev’n I am seiz’d with horror and affright,
“ And my own heart misgives me at the fight.
“ A mighty downfall steeps the evening stage,
" And Iteddy reins must curb the horses’ rage.

66 Tethys 4